Free to Be July 2026
With Ishan Tigunait, Brian Fulp and Himalayan Institute Core Faculty
July 2 - 5, 2026
This July, as our nation marks its 250th anniversary, we gather for something simple and meaningful: time together. Free to Be is a long holiday weekend designed as a gentle getaway, an opportunity to rest, reconnect, and celebrate the freedom to be yourself and the freedom to belong.
This is a yoga family weekend in the fullest sense of the word. Children are welcome. Parents are welcome. Those traveling solo are welcome. The invitation is to bring your whole self, including the curious, playful inner child who still delights in fireflies and starlight. Our schedule is intentionally light, creating spaciousness for unhurried meals, spontaneous conversations, and time outdoors.
Anytime Activities
- Basketball and pickleball
- Kayaking and swimming at Sunset Pond
- Hiking on our four groomed wooded trails
- Walking and bicycling on paved paths
- Cornhole and lawn games
- Scavenger hunt
- Fellowship and time to relax
Organized Activities
- Fireworks and Bonfire Spectacular on Sound of Music Hill
- Nightly campfires and stargazing
- Vegetarian cookout and Pizza at Sunset Pond
- Daily yoga and meditation
- Guided hike around campus
- A Fairy Stroll: Over the Creek and Through the Woods
- Satsang with Ishan Tigunait
- Making Art from Nature
- Children Welcome Hour in the Sri Vidya Shrine
- MOKA Origins Factory Tour – Bean-to-bar Chocolate (and coffee!)
- And more to be announced!
Because it’s a holiday weekend, we’ll enjoy fireworks and celebration. But we’ll also explore a quieter kind of freedom. Yoga teaches that freedom means enjoying life fully while also feeling peaceful and steady inside. It means we can run, laugh, paddle across the pond, and roast marshmallows, and also sit together in stillness. We can be playful and thoughtful. Independent and connected.
This is what Yoga Family is all about. Kids making new friends. Parents finding space to breathe. Friends arriving together. Solo travelers finding belonging in this community. Everyone sharing meals, stories, and summer evenings under the stars. Come be part of something warm, welcoming, and alive. Here, you are Free to Be.
About the Leaders
Ishan Tigunait
Growing up at the Himalayan Institute, Ishan Tigunait received his first spiritual lessons from Swami Rama of the Himalayas, and has continued his spiritual education for the past 30 years under the guidance of his father, Pandit Rajmani Tigunait. Pilgrimage has been a major part of his spiritual journey for over 20 years, leading him […]
Learn more about Ishan TigunaitBrian Fulp
Brian Fulp, director of the Himalayan Institute Retreat Center, has been a member of the Himalayan Institute since the age of 14, and moved to its 400-acre campus in Honesdale in 1997. His early responsibilities included being in charge of the Residential Committee and building the Institute’s Web Department, which he managed for nearly a decade. In 2008, […]
Learn more about Brian Fulp
Himalayan Institute Core Faculty
Steeped in the wisdom of the sages, the Himalayan Institute Core Faculty brings you the authentic teachings of the lineage. Our faculty embodies decades of personal study and practice, and draws on the philosophical and practical teachings of the scriptures as well as the oral tradition that has been passed down from teacher to student […]
Learn more about Himalayan Institute Core FacultyCategories : HI Signature Program, Lifestyle, Programming
